Acee: Dean Spanos is the one to hold accountable

Dean Spanos, San Diego Chargers president, talks about the firing of coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in San Diego. Despite having what was perceived as one of the NFL's most-talented rosters for several seasons, Smith and Turner never got the Chargers to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
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Dean Spanos, San Diego Chargers president, talks about the firing of coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in San Diego. Despite having what was perceived as one of the NFL's most-talented rosters for several seasons, Smith and Turner never got the Chargers to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
/ AP

THE BEST: 1. Philip Rivers, QB, ‘04. In the first draft that was all his own, Smith was immediately faced with an embarrassing disaster – the Manning family’s public excoriation of the Chargers as a team Eli did not want ...
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THE BEST: 2. Shawne Merriman, OLB, ‘05. This was the real payoff on l’affaire Manning. In addition to Rivers, Smith got the 2005 pick that was used on Merriman, who was the NFL’s most demonic pass-rusher until a failed steroid ...
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THE BEST: 3. Oh-five, cont. The Chargers did so well in the 2005 draft, it bears repeating on a deeper level. In addition to Merriman, the Chargers got three other players who were certifiable forces. Also a first-round pick, Luis ...
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THE BEST: 4. Antonio Cromartie, CB. Smith took a huge chance with the No. 19 overall pick of the 2006 draft, given that Cromartie had missed the last year of his career at Florida State with a blown-out ACL and ...
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THE BEST: 5. Eric Weddle, S, ’07. Hindsight being what it is, it’s hard to fathom that the Chargers took Buster Davis ahead of this guy. Smith must’ve known something, though, for he traded four draft picks to the Chicago ...
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THE WORST: 2. Buster Davis, WR/KR. For four years, you’d see the first-round pick from LSU at the Chargers complex, sometimes even in uniform. You just rarely saw him – or saw him doing much, anyway – in a game. ...
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THE WORST: 3. Ryan Mathews, RB, ’10. With mitigating circumstances, the greatest of which are expectations, the demands are high when you’re considered the successor to LaDainian Tomlinson and the GM traded up 16 spots in the first round to ...
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THE WORST: 4. Larry English, LB, ’09. See Mathews, comma, Ryan. The Chargers were desperate to find the next Merriman, but more often than not, the hard part was finding the oft-injured English on the field at a Chargers game. ...
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THE WORST: 5. Antoine Cason, CB, ’08. Here’s the thing, though. There are times – like much of 2010 season and parts of this season – when Cason is exactly what the Chargers were thinking he’d be when using the ...
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Now that the termination of A.J. Smith and Norv Turner is official, Spanos will be hiring his fourth general manager and fifth head coach. And whether or not every one he’s previously hired was a mistake, these upcoming choices better not be.

Norv Turner’s .583 winning percentage in the regular season and playoffs qualifies him as the most successful coach in Chargers history. The 95 victories and five division titles in Smith’s 10 seasons arguably represent the most successful decade in Chargers history.

Those two tidbits speak as much to the lack of success in the franchise’s other four-plus decades of existence as it does to the accomplishments of Turner and Smith.

It’s up to Spanos to ensure this wasn’t change for change’s sake.

No matter who he relies on for counsel, this is on him. Always has been. And now he’s running out of time.

His son, John, currently the director of college scouting, will within the next two to three years assume control of football operations, as his older brother, A.G., has already done on the team’s business side.

“I have a guy down the hall,” Spanos said as he nodded over his shoulder toward John’s office, “it’s going to be his challenge at some point in time.”

Spanos did not protest when I proclaimed Monday that an era has ended. And I wasn’t talking about the tenures of Turner or Smith.

Moreover, a roster rife with talent is tattered. Hope is teetering on desperation.

All the excitement that had this town in a blue and gold lather for the better part of a decade was fruitless. The pursuit of excellence has fizzled into a puddle of mediocrity.

“I can’t ignore that,” Spanos said. “It’s disappointing.”

Spanos has been in charge of the Chargers for 18 years. The team went to the Super Bowl in his first year after taking over for his father, Alex, who bought the franchise 10 years before that.

The Chargers have been within a game of the Super Bowl just once and been to the playoffs just six times since.

For perspective, there are 13 other teams that have not been to a Super Bowl since 1994 and 21 other teams that haven’t won a Super Bowl in that span.

And while Spanos’ decisions in part led to the Chargers being one of the two worst teams in the NFL from 1996-2003, he also hired John Butler and then Smith, whose combined personnel moves shaped a team that from ‘04-09 won more games than all but five other teams.

“I take 100 percent responsibility for the last 18 years,” Spanos said Monday.

I believe Spanos’ greatest strength is his biggest weaknesses.

Some call his problem fear. While such an assessment is not entirely folly, it is ultimately false.

I see it as Spanos being loyal to a fault – first keeping Bobby Beathard too long because he couldn’t discount the G.M.’s role in building a Super Bowl roster and then sticking with Smith longer than he might have in deference to Smith’s role in bringing the franchise out of its darkest period.